`Ziggy` Marley Follows Father To Forefront Of Reggae Music

April 18, 1988|By Chris Heim.

Since the death of Bob Marley in 1981, reggae has drifted out of mass consciousness and popularity. A new savior, some said, was needed-a person not only as musically talented but as charismatic, someone capable of fusing world rhythms and melodies, pop sensibilities and global politics.

David ``Ziggy`` Marley, Bob Marley`s 19-year-old son and leader of the Melody Makers (with brother Steven, 15, and sisters Sharon, 23, and Cedella, 20), is being hailed as just such a figure. Sunday night at the Park West, he showed why. Though he has many of the same impressive talents that made his father a star, including a strikingly similiar manner, voice and vision, Ziggy is also a talent on the verge of coming into his own.

Despite his youth, Marley has extensive musical experience. The Melody Makers first got together to do Bob Marley`s ``Children Playing In The Streets`` in 1979. By 1985 they had released a Grammy-nominated debut album

(``Play The Game Right``) and embarked on their first major tour. Other tours and a second album, ``Hey World,`` followed, but only now, with a new album, ``Conscious Party,`` has the right combination of circumstances-label support, revived interest in the burgeoning Caribbean musical scene and refined talents-come together to push Marley down the road to stardom that his father previously tread.

The concert here, a somewhat abbreviated performance with no encore, was nevertheless an impressive display of contemporary reggae at its best.

Concentrating on his own material except for a brief reference to ``Time Will Tell,`` Ziggy showcased a style that, like his father`s, is highly melodic and pop-inflected, but also has a more upbeat, full, high-tech sheen. Like his father, Ziggy also has a vision and extended live versions of songs such as the stirring ``We Propose,`` the thumping ``Tumblin` Down`` and the bright new single ``Tomorrow People`` were scintillating displays of his fusion of music and message.

The compelling live sound also suggested there was more to ``Conscious Party`` than just the production skills of Talking Heads Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz or guest stars like Rolling Stone Keith Richards, acclaimed sax player Lenny Pickett and South African jazz star Hugh Masakela.

A great deal of credit should go to the eight-piece Chicago-based band Dallol, who appeared on the album and backed the Melody Makers in concert.

Originally from Ethiopia, Dallol members came to Chicago in 1978 and began developing their own style of reggae, fusing African melodies with Jamaican rhythms, pop influences and jazz improvisation.

They open for Rita Marley on several dates and their 1985 debut LP,

``Land Of The Genesis,`` came out on Rita Marley`s Meadowlark label.

With such tight, inventive musical support and obvious talent, Ziggy Marley could indeed put the spark back into reggae. But to declare him the new reggae messiah or Bob Marley`s undisputed heir apparent as this point seems not only premature but unfair to a gifted young musician who should have time to develop a voice that is truly his own.